Episode 15 Mastermind

Our first contender tonight is Chris Sloley.

He's a journalist from London

and his specialist subject, The Simpsons.

Next, Tim Kenny, a freight forwarder from Suffolk.

He's answering questions on venomous snakes.

Charlie Hasted is a student from London,

answering questions on Sherlock Holmes.

And Alfred Williams is an assistant curator from Hull.

His subject, Alfred the Great.

APPLAUSE

Hello and welcome to Mastermind, with me, John Humphrys.

Four contenders, each hoping that they will be the one,

the one who goes through to the semifinals,

then the grand final

and then, a place in the quizzing history books,

as Mastermind Champion.

Only two obstacles lie in their way -

two minutes of questions on their specialist subject,

two and a half minutes on general knowledge.

So, let's ask our first hopeful to join us, please.

The Simpsons in two minutes, starting now.

Who buys Bart's soul in the form of a piece of paper

with "Bart Simpson's soul" written on it for 5?

Bart eventually recovers it

when Lisa buys it back from the comic book store.

-Milhouse.

-What title has been used

for The Simpsons' Halloween episodes since Season Two?

-Treehouse Of Horror.

-Homer helps Apu to study

for the American citizenship test in Much Apu About Nothing.

What does he say the 13 stripes on the American flag are for?

-Pass.

-What is the name of Marge's geeky former boyfriend,

who greets her at the Class of 1974 high school reunion

by saying, "Have you heard? I'm stinking rich."?

-Artie Fitz.

-No, Ziff.

In The Cartridge Family, what product does Pele endorse on the field

before the Continental Soccer Association match

between Mexico and Portugal in Springfield?

-Orange juice?

-Wax paper.

Who provides the guest voice for the flower seller Renee?

She says she is dating the bartender Moe because she likes his "insecure, sweaty charm".

-Helen Hunt.

-In Homer's Enemy, what position at the nuclear power plant

does Mr Burns say he wants to offer to Frank Grimes?

He then changes his mind and gives it to a dog that catches his eye.

-Vice President.

-Executive Vice President.

Which singer does Homer mistake for a cleaning lady

when she's in Miami to perform the half-time show

at the Super Bowl in Sunday, Cruddy Sunday?

-Celine Dion.

-Dolly Parton.

In There's No Disgrace Like Home, what word does Homer use

to describe the all-seeing nature of God, when he is saying grace?

-Pass.

-What is the name of the shop owned by the Flanders family

that is looted after their house is destroyed by Hurricane Barbara?

-Leftorium.

-In the episode Old Money,

when Abe Simpson's new love Beatrice Simmons asks him to tell her about himself,

he replies, "Widower, one son, one..." what?

-Pass.

-Lisa investigates electoral fraud

after the election of Sideshow Bob as the Mayor of Springfield.

What's the name of her dead pet cat that she finds on the list of voters?

-Snowball.

-Which alien is revealed to be Maggie's true father

in the story Starship Poopers, in Treehouse Of Horror IX?

-Kang.

-After Marge reveals her fear of flying in Season Six,

she says that everybody has a fear of something.

BEEP What does she say Homer is afraid of?

-Sock puppets.

-Sock puppets is exactly right.

You had three passes. What he said was, "Widower, one son, one kidney.

"Working kidney."

In There's No Disgrace Like Home,

Homer describes the all-seeing nature of God, "omnivorous".

And he helps Apu to study for the American citizenship test.

He says the 13 stripes on the American flag are for good luck.

LAUGHTER

Yeah, great stuff. Chris, you had those three passes.

You've scored seven points.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

In two minutes, here we go.

Which snake, found in central Australia,

has the most toxic venom of any known snake?

It's also known as the small-scaled and the fierce snake.

-The inland taipan.

-Of the four surviving species of mamba,

the black mamba is probably the best known.

What predominant colour are the other three?

-Green.

-What name is given to the scale on the tip of the snout

that borders the mouth-opening of all snakes?

-The rostral.

-Which African snake is thought to have the largest eyes,

relative to the size of its head, of any of the species and takes its name

from the Afrikaans word for "tree snake"?

-Boomslang.

-What alphanumeric name is given to the test

used to compare venoms by their killing capacity?

It's defined as the amount of venom needed to kill

half a group of test subjects within a specified time period.

The LD50.

What common name is given to the American pit viper or water moccasin?

The name refers to the white interior of its jaws.

-The cottonmouth.

-Which snake is the only one known to construct a nest

for egg incubation and then remain to guard the eggs?

It's also the world's longest venomous snake.

-The king cobra.

-What is the name of the genus

that contains Afro-Asian cobras?

It is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word for "snake".

-Naja.

-Death adders are the only species

of the Elapidae family of snakes to use a particular tail movement

to attract prey when they hunt. What's it called?

-Caudal luring.

-The internal organs of venomous snakes

include an enlarged right lung, with the left much reduced,

and a heart that consists of how many chambers?

-Four.

-Three.

The East and West African species of an ambush viper

possess the longest fangs of any known snake. Which viper?

-The gaboon viper.

-What Pacific island country gives its name

to the species of burrowing snake also known locally as the bolo?

-Solomon Islands.

-Fiji.

Snake venoms may contain various poisonous substances,

such as neurotoxins and myotoxins.

What name is given to the toxins that directly target the kidneys?

-Nephrotoxins.

-What species of snake, closely related to the spitting cobra,

is the only elapid in Africa to bear live young

and is known to defend itself by pretending to be dead?

The rinkhals.

Which 18th-century Scottish physician... BEEP

..gives his name to the only truly Asian species of Old World viper?

He was employed as a naturalist for the East India Company,

where he conducted detailed studies of Indian snakes.

-Russell.

-Yeah, Patrick Russell.

-No passes, Tim. You have 13 points.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

Two minutes on Sherlock Holmes, starting now.

In The Adventure Of The Crooked Man,

when Holmes explains how he deduced

that Watson must have had a busy day, Watson cries, "Excellent!"

What is Holmes' reply?

-Elementary.

-Which story in The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes,

introduces the brilliant Irene Adler, whom Holmes refers to as "the woman"?

-Scandal In Bohemia.

-What is the name of the mutual acquaintance

who introduces Dr Watson to Holmes?

He describes Holmes as "a little queer in his ideas".

-Stamford.

-Sherlock's brother Mycroft belongs to a Pall Mall club

whose members are "the most unsociable and unclubable men in town". Which club?

-Diogenes.

-At what battle in the Second Afghan War

was Dr Watson shot in the shoulder?

He almost died of a fever and was discharged back to England.

-Maiwand.

-What name is given to the jewel

that belonged to the Countess of Morcar that is found in the crop of a Christmas goose?

-Blue Carbuncle.

-In The Return Of Sherlock Holmes,

Holmes reappears after he has faked his death.

When he first approaches Watson, he is disguised as a seller of what?

-Books.

-In The Adventure Of The Blanched Soldier,

what single word does Holmes write on a scrap of paper

that he hands to Colonel Emsworth? It concerns Emsworth's son Godfrey.

-Leprosy.

-In The Hound Of The Baskervilles,

Holmes solves two cases on his return to London from Baskerville Hall.

One is the supposed murder of Mademoiselle Carere

and the other concerns the "atrocious conduct" of whom?

-Pass.

-What was the name of the ship that was the subject of the case

that Holmes described as "the first in which I was ever engaged"?

-Gloria Scott.

-Who is described by Holmes in The Valley Of Fear

as "the controlling brain of the underworld,

"a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations"?

-Professor Moriarty.

-Watson finds Holmes working undercover

in The Bar Of Gold on Upper Swandam Lane.

What type of establishment is The Bar Of Gold?

-Opium den.

-What is the name of the street urchin,

described by Watson as a "disreputable little scarecrow",

who leads the gang known to Holmes as the Baker Street Irregulars?

-Wiggins.

-Which of the Holmes stories is divided into two parts,

entitled The Singular Experience Of Mr John Scott Eccles and The Tiger Of San Pedro?

-BEEP

-Wisteria Lodge.

Wisteria Lodge is correct. You had one pass.

In The Hound Of The Baskervilles,

one of the two cases concerned the atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood.

-Ah.

-However, Charley, you have 13 points.

APPLAUSE

And our final contender, please.

Alfred the Great, here we go.

Alfred the Great was an English king of the Anglo-Saxon period.

When Alfred visited Rome as a child in 853,

which Pope received him and gave him a blessing?

-Leo IV.

-What was the name of Alfred's brother

and immediate predecessor as the king of Wessex?

He defeated an invading Viking army with Alfred at the Battle of Ashdown.

-Ethelred.

-What name did Alfred use to replace

that of "Lady Philosophy" in his translation

of the sixth-century Roman Boethius's Consolation Of Philosophy?

-Wisdom.

-From which Frankish monastery did Alfred recruit

the scholarly Grimbald to serve as his mass-priest

and to aid in his programme of education?

-St Bertin.

-Alfred specifically acknowledged that he inherited

parts of his written code of laws from a king of Wessex

who was born in the seventh century. What was the king's name?

-Ine.

-At which Dorset town did Alfred found a nunnery,

where his daughter Ethelgifu became an abbess?

-Shaftesbury.

-At which battle in Wiltshire

did Alfred have a decisive victory over the Vikings in the year 878?

-Edington.

-Which document is a survey

of Alfred's military fortifications and demonstrates

how his plan for a defensive system of new towns was put into effect?

-The Burghal Hidage.

-What Roman road was used as the northern part

of the dividing line between the lands of Alfred and the Viking leader Guthrum?

-Watling Street.

-Which museum holds the relic known as the Alfred Jewel?

The purpose of the object is disputed,

although it's thought to have been used as a pointer.

-The Ashmolean.

-What was the name of the commander of the Viking fleet

that entered the estuary of the Thames

and built fortifications at Milton Regis in 892?

-Hasteinn.

-What legendary story about Alfred

first appears in the Life Of Saint Neot, roughly a century after the king's death?

-The cakes.

-Yeah, the burning of the cakes. Who was the Bishop of Worcester

who translated the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great?

Alfred supplied a preface to one of the copies.

-Werferth.

-At what place did Alfred read his father's will to an assembly

to justify his allocation of estates to the children of his brother Ethelred?

-Langandene.

-What is the name of the puppet king of Mercia

who collaborated with Alfred to introduce the coins

known as the "cross and lozenge" and the "two emperors"?

-BEEP

-Ceolwulf II.

-Is correct.

15 questions, 15 correct answers. Well done.

APPLAUSE

So, that is the end of that round.

Some very high scores. Let's have a look at them all.

In fourth place, 7 points, Chris.

Joint second place,

13 points apiece, Tim and Charley.

First place, 15 points, Alfred.

APPLAUSE

So, it is the general knowledge round now

and, if there's a tie at the end of it,

then the number of passes is taken into account

and the person with the fewer passes is the winner.

And, if they are tied on passes as well, there will be a tie-break.

So, let us start the next round and ask Chris to join us again, please.

And you picked a subject with an awful lot of episodes

-and an awful lot of detail.

-Yeah.

-But you got seven points.

Here we go. Two and a half minutes, general knowledge, starting now.

Pitcher, batter and home run are terms used in which sport?

-Baseball.

-Which European dictator, who'd ruled his country since 1939,

died in November, 1975, after a long illness?

-Franco.

-Who performed with the Eurythmics

on their 1985 UK top ten hit Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves?

-Cyndi Lauper.

-Aretha Franklin.

The French call the English Channel's junction with the North Sea

the Pas de Calais. How is it known in English?

-The Bristol Channel.

-The Straits of Dover.

Which football club did Jurgen Klopp lead

to two successive Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012

before he took over at Liverpool in October, 2015?

-Borussia Dortmund.

-Which Prime Minister defended the devaluation of the pound

in 1967, by claiming, "It does not mean that the pound here in Britain,

"in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued"?

-Pass.

-In the '97 film Titanic, who plays Jack Dawson,

a young drifter who wins a third-class passage

on the doomed ship in a poker game?

-Leonardo DiCaprio.

-Which comedian and magician's catchphrase

was "Just like that"?

-Tommy Cooper.

-Which schoolboy, created by the author Frank Richards,

was nicknamed the "Fat Owl of the Remove"?

-Flash Thompson.

-Billy Bunter.

Which television series about D Section of MI5 is partly set

in the organisations headquarters at Thames House? It was first shown in 2002.

-Spooks.

-Whose masterpiece The Massacre Of The Innocents

was sold for a then British record of £49.5 million at Sotheby's in July, 2002?

-Pablo Picasso.

-Rubens.

In which British city are Central and Queen Street the two main railway termini?

-Glasgow.

-The English horn is a lower pitched member

of the oboe family. It's better known by what French name?

-Pass.

-The 18th-century catalogue compiled by Charles Messier

that is still referred to today,

especially by amateurs, covers what branch of science?

-Biology.

-Astronomy.

The argali from Central Asia is the largest living wild species

of which domesticated farm animal?

-Pass.

-What is the common British word

for what Americans call a baby's soother or pacifier?

-A dummy.

-The chocolate cake Sachertorte was created

by the pastry cook Franz Sacher in 1832 and is a speciality of which city?

-Berlin.

-Vienna.

Which comedian and actor wrote a book called Revolution, published in 2014,

in which he berates the current political system and parties?

-Russell Brand.

-In Greek mythology, the god Poseidon

and the Gorgon Medusa were the father and the mother of who or what?

-Pass.

-Which monarchy, an enclave

entirely surrounded by South Africa... BEEP

..was a British protectorate known as Basutoland,

before it gained independence in 1966?

-Namibia.

-Lesotho.

You had four passes.

Poseidon and Medusa were the father and mother of Pegasus,

the winged horse.

The argali is the largest living wild species of the sheep family.

The English horn, better known by the French name "cor anglais".

And "the pound in your pocket hasn't been devalued," said Harold Wilson.

Those four passes, Chris, you have scored 16 points.

APPLAUSE

And now, Tim again, please.

And you start out with 13 points, Tim.

Let's see how you do with your general knowledge.

Two and a half minutes of it. Here we go.

What is the name of the soul singer

who had a posthumous hit in 1968 with The Dock Of The Bay?

-Otis Redding.

-According to the Book Of Genesis,

how many sons accompanied Noah on the Ark?

-Three.

-What is the grammatical term for a word such as "I" or "it"

that is used instead of a noun?

-Preposition.

-Personal pronoun.

What is the name of the author who's best known for his novels

about Tarzan, the lost son of an English nobleman?

He also wrote the John Carter science fantasy stories.

-Edgar Rice Burroughs.

-Dabblers, which feed near the water's surface,

and divers, which feed nearer the bottom of lakes and rivers,

are types of what water fowl?

-Duck.

-In March, 2003, Sophia Loren unveiled a bronze statue,

in Rieti, of a woman holding a giant coin, as a memorial to which currency?

-The franc.

-The lira.

Which of the wives of Henry VIII was given a hereditary peerage

in her own right, when she was made Marquess of Pembroke in 1532?

-Catherine of Aragon.

-Anne Boleyn.

What common term is used for water

that does not readily form a lather with soap

because of the presence of calcium and other dissolved substances?

-Hard water.

-Diane James stood down as leader of which political party

in October, 2016, just 18 days after her election?

-UKIP.

-Which 1954 film musical,

starring Howard Keel and Jane Powell,

features the songs Bless Your Beautiful Hide and Spring, Spring, Spring?

-Oklahoma.

-Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.

Which Welsh international footballer received a record number of yellow cards

in the Premier League, before going on to become a radio and television pundit?

-Robbie Savage.

-What is the zodiac sign

of a leap year baby, born on the 29th February?

-Pisces.

-Who had his first military success

as Commander of Artillery at the Siege of Toulon in December, 1793?

-Duke of Wellington.

-Napoleon.

Which river is famed for its connection with Izaak Walton

and forms much of the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire?

-Is it the Tern?

-The Dove.

That Woman, by Anne Sebba, is a 2011 biography

of an American divorcee who married into the royal family. Which divorcee?

-Wallis Simpson.

-Yeah, Duchess of Windsor.

What traditional topping for a simnel cake is also widely used

beneath the royal icing on a Christmas cake?

-Cinnamon.

-Marzipan.

In which 1960s children's television series was the Earth defended

by a security organisation called Spectrum?

-Stingray.

-Captain Scarlet.

What is the name of the blind Spanish composer,

whose best-known work is the Concierto De Aranjuez

For Guitar And Orchestra, first performed in 1940?

-Segovia.

-Rodrigo.

What virtually identical name is shared

by the currency units of Denmark, Norway and Sweden? BEEP

-The Krone.

-The krone or the krona. Yeah, krone and krona.

One ends in E, one ends in A.

-Tim, you now have a total of 23 points.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

And now Charley again, please.

And, Charley, you start out with 13 points as well.

And 23 is, as we speak, the score to beat.

Two and a half minutes of general knowledge, starting now.

What is the "city" in the television series Sex And The City?

-New York.

-The picture entitled Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Tulp

was painted in 1632 by which Dutch artist?

-Vermeer.

-Rembrandt.

What name is given to a sweet pancake, served with an orange sauce

and flambeed with liqueur or brandy?

-Crepe Suzette.

-Which chemical element has the atomic number 1?

-Hydrogen.

-What rodent, that's suffered a severe decline in Britain,

is often wrongly called a "water rat"?

Ratty in The Wind In the Willows is a member of the species.

-Vole.

-Yes, water vole.

What stately home in North Yorkshire was designed by Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor

and doubled as the ancestral home in the television version of Brideshead Revisited?

-Pass.

-In the words of the proverb,

"Many brave men lived before..." which mythological Greek king?

-Pass.

-What is the title of Anita Loos' 1920s debut novel

that was made into a musical and later a film,

starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell?

Oh...

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Mec Vannin is a political party, formed in 1962,

that campaigns for independence for which of the British Isles?

-The Isle Of Man.

-What is the name of the writer and actor

who has created American television series, such as The Cleveland Show,

Family Guy and American Dad?

Oh...

-Pass.

-Who was the first actor to play Inspector Clouseau

in the Pink Panther films?

-Peter Sellers.

-The Zugspitze, that rises to 9,718 feet,

is the highest mountain in which country?

-Germany.

-The snooker World Champion Ray Reardon,

the ice skater Christopher Dean

and the football referee Howard Webb all previously had what occupation?

-Teachers.

-Police officer.

Which businessman bought the Daily Mirror

and its sister newspapers in July, 1984?

-Rupert Murdoch.

-Robert Maxwell.

Which X Factor winner had a Christmas number one single

in 2008 with a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah?

-Leona Lewis.

-Alexandra Burke.

The German pocket battleship Graf Spee

was scuttled by her captain outside a port in December, 1939,

because he thought that a superior British naval force

was out there, waiting. Which port?

-Pass.

-What event in Manchester, in 1819,

is the subject of Shelley's poem The Masque Of Anarchy?

-Peterloo Massacre.

-Which Austrian composer's 1816 Symphony Number 4 In C Minor

did he himself call the Tragic Symphony?

-Mozart.

-Schubert. In Greek myth, which nocturnal bird...

BEEP ..was considered sacred to Athena, the goddess of war?

-The owl.

-The owl is correct. You had four passes.

Montevideo - that's where the Graf Spee was.

Seth MacFarlane was the writer and actor

who created all those television shows.

Many brave men lived before Agamemnon.

And Castle Howard was that stately home in North Yorkshire,

-as you knew.

-Yeah.

Four passes there, Charley.

You have, now, 23 points.

APPLAUSE

And, finally, Alfred again, please.

And you start out with a substantial 15 points, Alfred,

but you've got to beat 23 with your general knowledge.

So, let's see if you can do it and get through to the semifinals.

Here we go.

What term for a puppet worked by strings is derived

from a diminutive of the French name Marie?

-Marionette.

-Which Australian golfer won the British Open in 1986

and again in '93?

-Pass.

-Which apostle is the patron saint of artists,

brewers, butchers and doctors, among others?

-Luke.

-The name of which fine-netting fabric,

typically used for wedding dresses and ballet tutus,

comes from the town in France where it was originally made?

-Chine.

-Tulle. The key elements of an ancient monument are the bluestones

from the Preseli Mountains in Wales

and the sarsen stones from the nearby Marlborough Downs. Which monument?

-Stonehenge.

-Which railway tunnel, that opened in 1906,

and runs from Brig in Switzerland to Iselle in Italy,

was, for many years, the world's longest railway tunnel?

-Mont Blanc.

-Simplon.

Which group of islands, lying around 130 miles north-east of Scotland,

give their name to a breed of small pony?

-Shetland.

-In what 2004 film, directed by Roland Emmerich,

and starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal,

is the world devastated by climatic disasters?

-Day After Tomorrow.

-The Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon

and Glen Canyon are features on which river?

-Colorado.

-Which record by the Shangri-Las

about a biker boyfriend has reached the UK singles charts in '65, '72 and '76?

-Oh, pass.

-What name did Thomas Edison give

to the sound recording apparatus, a forerunner of the gramophone,

that he patented in 1877? The name continues to be used in America.

-Phonograph.

-Morello and Montmorency

are sour varieties of which fruit?

-Cherry.

-The illness pleurisy is an inflammation of the membranes

that enclose which organs of the body?

-Lungs.

-Which writer wrote the plays Noises Off,

Copenhagen and Democracy? He was married to the biographer and critic Claire Tomalin.

-Michael Frayn.

-In May, 1973, who described the practices

of the mining company Lonrho, as "the unpleasant

"and unacceptable face of capitalism"?

-Pass.

-What pseudonym did the English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson adopt

when he wrote his "Alice" books?

-Lewis Carroll.

-Dreams Of A Winter Journey

and Land Of Desolation, Land of Mists are the subtitles

of the first two movements of which Russian composer's first symphony?

-Scriabin.

-Tchaikovsky.

What word was used for the part of an Ottoman household

reserved for wives, concubines or female servants,

and comes from the Arabic for "forbidden"?

-Harem.

-In the television cartoon series The Flintstones,

what is the name of Fred Flintstone's pet dinosaur?

-Dino.

-The People's Liberation Army,

which can trace its roots back to the Communist uprising of 1927,

is the unified land, sea and air force of which country?

-China.

-Of which American state is Little Rock the capital?

-Arkansas.

-Which celebrated Italian conductor,

who died in New York City in 1957... BEEP

..at the age of nearly 90, defied Mussolini by refusing to conduct Giovinezza,

the official hymn of the Italian Fascist Party?

-Toscanini.

-Is correct. Three passes.

Ted Heath talked about the "unacceptable face of capitalism".

That record by Shangri-Las was Leader Of The Pack.

And Greg Norman was the golfer.

You have scored a total, Alfred, a whopping total

of 31 points.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

Well, what a round! Let's have a look at all of the scores.

In fourth place,

with 16 points, Chris.

Joint second place, 23 points,

Tim and Charley.

Not bad scores, those two.

But, in first place, 31 points, Alfred.

APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

Which means, obviously, that Alfred is tonight's winner,

and he goes through to the semifinals. Congratulations to him.

And if you would like to be a contender in the next series -

you don't have to score 31 points - do go to our website.

And you can follow us on Twitter.

Do join us again next time for more Masterminds.

Thanks for watching. Goodbye.